One Bad Reason For Helping the Bad Guy
by Scarabbug
Summary: Hunter knows he probably shouldn’t be helping Bianca out like this. But what exactly is he supposed to do? Just stand there and let her get eaten? Takes place during the “Hunter’s Tussle” cut scene of the game “Year of the Dragon”.


**Despite being the first fandom I ever dabbled in, it has been absolutely ages since I wrote Spyro fic for this _particular_ area of the fandom. This should therefore have some intriguing results. Takes place during the "Hunter's Tussle" cut scene of the game "Year of the Dragon"  
Standard disclaimers apply. Though just who owns this little guy at the moment really is anyone's guess. **

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_"Action is the true medium of love"._ Vincent I. Patino  
_"Hey… is it just me, or is she kinda cute when she's angry?" _ Hunter, Year of the Dragon.

One Bad Reason For Helping the Bad Guy.

Spyro thinks he's crazy. Hunter can tell by the way he's looking at him.

Which… okay, he admits it. This isn't really the brightest thing he's ever done in his life. That thing has _teeth_. Lots of them. None of them especially sharp, but then, with a mouth _that_ big, Hunter supposes they don't really need to be. After all, it _is_ trying to swallow Bianca, and…

And something about that fact really _upsets_ him.

'Uh… you're kidding right?' Yeah. Spyro really thinks he's crazy. Then again, Hunter _has_ just suggested that they save a bad guy. And it's not _their_ fault that she can't handle her own spell power, so it's not their problem, right?

…Right?

'Hunter, she nearly toasted you!'

'Yeah, but…_' But it's_ trying to eat _her!_ Hunter wants to say, but he knows there really isn't any point. Spyro's never been that easy to convince in the first place, and he's not very good at forgiving people, either. Hunter isn't really that sure if _he's_ forgiven Bianca, either, but still, her can't just stand there and watch her get…

The creature jumps. Which is weird. Hunter hadn't imagined it even could jump at all, with feet like that, never mind as _high_ as it does. It's definitely not built like a cheetah is. It probably can't run nearly as fast as he can. And no way can it kick, or punch. The only weapon it really has is that huge mouth, and that part of him is very much distracted by what it's trying to do with Bianca.

Hunter knows he'd have an advantage here. He knows Spyro would take care of that thing without so much as breaking a sweat (if dragons actually _sweated_… they didn't, did they? What with all those scales…) but he's not going to do that. He doesn't trust Bianca enough to help her. Break the trust of someone like Spyro and it's really, _really_ hard to get it back.

Besides she's… evil, isn't she? Bianca's working for the sorceress.

Hunter is just trying to tell himself this when an annoying moralistic voice inside of his head which he likes to call "Elora" (even though it's not) comments that even if that _is_ the case, nobody deserves to be eaten like that. Except for maybe the Sorceress. And Ripto. And the Rock Monsters in Fracture Hills. And the…

Well, anyway, he can't just let that thing eat her.

He wants to tell Spyro that, too, but… maybe not. Hunter had been right there watching that night in Avalar when Spyro beat Ripto into the lava pools beneath the Midnight Mountain, he remembers seeing how _angry_ the dragon had looked and how he'd seemed almost three times bigger than usual (which was really saying something for this particular dragon.)

Trying to support the bad guy probably _isn't_ a very good idea.

So Hunter knows that he needs a better excuse than just "but it's going to eat her!" He needs a really, _really_ good reason to give Spyro for jumping up there and at least _trying_ to save the apprentice from her own screwed-up transmutation spelland, after only half a second's worth of thought, he comes up with one:

'…But she was aiming at _you_.'

…Okay, so maybe that's not as good a reason as it sounded in his head, but he doesn't have time to worry about that. If he doesn't act now, Bianca will…

…Oh. Oh, _damn_, that _had_ to hurt. Or at least, Bianca's face sure makes it look as if it did. And Hunter should know –He'd been thwacked around the chest like that himself, once, when…

…When Bianca shot at him. With a gravity bomb. To the stomach.

Yeah. _Why_ does he want to do this, again?

_'How about because you don't want her to die?'_ The Elora voice says in his head.

And Hunter has to agree. He doesn't. So when Bianca (who actually wasn't putting up too bad a fight until now) yelps, ducks, and covers her eyes, and then literally _vanishes_ into that awful thing's wide open, gaping mouth, Hunter feels his stomach clench a little. Even Spyro looks a little shocked. Like he didn't actually expect Bianca not to be able to fight that thing off. Like he really didn't think that… that _thing_ was really going to eat her, and now he's realising that it has and…

No time for wondering. The little Elora voice in Hunter's head tells him again that he _has_ to help her out. So he does. By running into the open field and pounding the monster Bianca created as hard as he can in the stomach.

But Cheetahs are built for speed, not strength. The attack doesn't do as much as Hunter hoped it would. Before he knows it, he's being thrown down onto his back in the dirt. And when he tries to stand up, he's thrown down again almost as quickly as the first time.

Spyro seems to have figured out that things really aren't going there way and looks like he's about to run in and help, but he doesn't actually get the chance, because when Hunter is next thrown on his back, he gets an idea of how to beat this thing.

He's a cheetah, after all. That means the strongest muscles are in his legs, right?

Perfect. He's in _just_ the right position. And when it comes down at him, he _kicks_. Hard. The monster almost seems to deflate from the pressure.

The kick is well placed. He learned it from Elora and he thinks it's really supposed to be some kind of disabling move but here, it works better for getting that thing to spit out whatever's in its stomach –namely a fully grown and (amazingly) very-much-alive sorceress's apprentice who Hunter thinks would probably have given it a hairball anyway. He guesses her magic must have protected her, or something.

Bianca does three tumble turns before she comes to a stop on the green, and by that time, Hunter's already turning back over and casting her a quick, nervous glance. She's landed somewhere near Spyro but the dragon doesn't really react much. He just keeps staring at Hunter in surprise.

Funny, though. Now Bianca's doing the same thing. Hunter remembers thinking that she looks kind of… cute, when she's angry. But now he's decides that she looks curter when surprised. Or shocked. Or… whatever that weird expression of hers is supposed to mean. Hunter's still not sure what she _is_, and he's not used to the expressions and attitudes of the creatures in this world anyway, so having Bianca stare at him like that is actually kind of distracting and…

And…

…Wow. She _is_ cute.

'Hunter, look out!'

Spyro's warning comes just a little too late. Because the Monster is trying to jump again, mouth wide open and… yeah. This was a really _bad_ idea and Hunter knows he's not going to get out of the way in time. Not even an Avalarian cheetah is that fast.

…Which, as it turns out, doesn't matter. He can hear Bianca yelling something in a language that he doesn't understand, and then with a puff of smoke, the monster is gone.

Just for a little while, though. It reappears from the smoke a few moments later and by the time it hits him, it's a whole lot smaller than he'd been expecting. Tiny and rabbit-like again, he allows it to hop on his head a few times before giving it an irritated whack. He doesn't look to see where it lands.

Instead, he looks at Bianca. And she looks right back at him.

Hunter grins without meaning to.

By this point, Bianca's on her feet and taking a few cautious steps towards him. Spyro is giving her a rather surprised look and Hunter can see the dragon's wings folding back a little bit, the way they do when he's ready to attack. Except Hunter knows he won't. Not really. Life debts mean something to people like Bianca.

'Um… thanks.'

It sounds like she's really not used to saying that. Her cheeks bristle beneath her fur and she tugs her hood tighter around her face. But she's smiling, at least, so he's fairly sure she's not angry at him for interfering, or anything and Hunter…

…Hunter's realises that he's still _grinning_. But still he tries to sound as self-assured and Spyro-like as he can as he answers her: 'No problem.'

There. Now how heroic was that? Way to save the apprentice in distress there, Hunter.

'It's a good thing for you, Hunter was around.' Spyro's tone of voice doesn't make it sound like _he_ really thinks it's a good thing but he's not as angry as Hunter was expecting him to be. Bianca's hands clench into fists inside her cloak sleeves. Hunter opens his mouth to say something but the courage he got fighting off that monster must've just died away or something and he can't bring himself to speak up.

'I can look after _myself_.'

'Oh. Sure you can,' Spyro is snorting and frowning at her and… yeah. he still doesn't like her much. Hunter's never been sure about _this_ Spyro. Because he knows Spyro. Spyro's a dragon he met in Avalar a few cycles ago. Spyro's the dragon who saved their whole world with barely any help from anyone.

Spyro is the dragon who's currently _glaring death_ at somebody who just narrowly avoided death-by-bunny-rabbit.

Yeah. Hunter knows Spyro. Spyro's brave and tough and an all around good guy, and he'll usually be okay with people. Just so long as they're good guys too. Which does make sense, really, but…

Anyway, Bianca's _not_ a good guy. Not at all. Hunter's known that from the second she shot him and called him a "pussy cat". So he's really not that surprised that they're still glaring at each other like that…

He'd kind of hoped that Bianca wouldn't try to hurt them this time, though, given that he'd just saved her life, and all.

'Would you like me to show you?'

…He supposes he was just hoping a little too much there, Bianca's hands are in the air, her fingers prickling with magic which is aimed right at Spyro.

Hunter knows he can stop her. All he has to do is reach out a hand.

Except that he can't. Or maybe he just knows he doesn't have to. He knows when somebody's lacking in power and she wasted all her magic saving him, there's nothing left to throw at Spyro. He's actually a little surprised she even managed to throw out something as simple as a butterfly.

Spyro watches the insect that flew from Bianca's fingers for a moment, smirking. A few seconds later and Sparx has swallowed it, eating up the last of Bianca's magic. 'Outta magic, huh? How about I give you a jump start?'

Well, that's gone and done it. Bianca isn't going to give Spyro the chance to start breathing any of the flames he came out with the last time she attacked them. which also means she's not going to be hanging around any longer the way Hunter had kind of hoped she would (which is a crazy way to think because obviously she's the bad guy and he's not supposed to like her, he just helped her because she needed him to and…

And he's going to stop trying to explain it to himself because he just can't do it.)

She casts a quick glance at him before she runs off in the direction of some nearby portal and he almost thinks that might be a smile, but she's really fast (maybe she's a cheetah under that cloak?) so he doesn't have much time to look at her before she's gone.

'Good riddance,' Spyro mutters under his breath, but he doesn't comment on what Hunter just did and Hunter gets the feeling that Spyro won't ask later.

Still, he can't help but feel a little annoyed. 'Hey, why'd you have to scare her off?'

Spyro looks at him, frowning. Hunter understands that, really. After all, Bianca is the bad guy. He shouldn't have helped her the way he did. But that doesn't change the fact that he did it (he's starting to get the sore shoulder to prove it) and he's not that sorry about it. He's not sorry that she's "getting away" the way the bad guys always seem to do for the first few times before Spyro catches up to them and forces them into some cool final showdown with the fate of the world on his shoulders. If dragons have shoulders.

'Hunter, you really confuse me sometimes, you know that, buddy?'

Yeah, Hunter knows. But all he can do is shrug and frown and watch as Spyro heads off in search of another portal or gateway which isn't the one Bianca just headed through.

Hunter hopes Spyro's not going to have to fight against Bianca.

After all, Spyro called him a "pussy cat" once, too, right?

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End file.
